I interviewed Bren Dubay who is the Director of Koinonia Farm in Americus, Georgia. Koinonia is an “Intentional Christian Community,” with people living and working together on a 573-acre pecan farm. (Koinonia was started by the late author Clarence Jordan, who had Blacks and Whites living and working together on the farm as early as the mid-1940s in a highly segregated South. It became the “backwater version of Montgomery, Alabama” in the height of the Civil Rights Movement. And Jordan went on to write the “Cotton Patch” series, a collection of modern day gritty, southern interpretations of the Bible.) Bren Dubay, a writer herself, was the “Playwrite in Residence” at Rice University. Several years ago, she came to Koinonia for a visit and got hooked on the spiritual ethos of the place. “There’s a sacredness here,” she said… And there is a rythm. Each day Koinonia members meet for morning devotional in an old chapel on the grounds, then disperse for various jobs around the farm. A bell sounds for 10:30 a.m., 3:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. prayer. The community eats noon meal together, followed by another devotional as one of the members (it rotates) shares some of their own personal takes on spirituality (a reading, some personal thoughts, a prayer). The work and prayer, for the most part, are at a slow, steady pace — with members taking the time to regularly stop, chat. By contrast, Bren notes that society at large these days seems tremendously accelerated as we “fill up on consumerism, work, activities…” Bren said to live in community is to live part of the gospel message. “God is in community,” she said. Bren, who also is a trained spiritual advisor, spends her days in prayer, talking to community members about spiritual matters, helping formulate ongoing vision for the community, handling business matters, with, again, one eye always on the spiritual mission of Koinonia… Conversely, she said often her CEO counterparts out in the world, if they have a spiritual life, will often practice it in a sort of “extra-curricular” fashion. That is, they’ll (for instance) go to church on Sunday, but not take much, if any, spirituality into the work place on Monday. Bren said that Koinonia’s over-arching vision is to “live Christianity as oulined by Jesus.” And she added to live it that way is inherently to be: “radical.”
1/16/06
For Martin Luther King Jr. Day today, my family and I road in a Koinonia Farm float in a parade through downtown Americus, Georgia, in the heart of the “Deep South.” As mentioned in an earlier journal entry, Koinonia Farm was the “backwater” Montgomery, Alabama of the Civil Rights Movement — starting in 1942. It was that year Clarence Jordan, his wife and another couple started Koinonia Farm as an “Intentional Christ Community” where Whites and Blacks would live and work together as equals — in a highly segregated South. The backlash was volatile (intimidating protests by the KKK, economic boycotts of the farm, regular drive-by shootings…). Yet Jordan didn’t back down through it all, and eventually things changed. Sort of… During the parade today in Americus, Blacks lined the city streets. There were, at best, only a handful of whites. Koinonia’s parade vehicle was the only one that had a mix of Blacks and Whites. The other parade vehicles had all Blacks. While the parade was festive, the lack of White participants and spectators was more than a bit conspicuous. And representative, I believe, of how far we haven’t come. That is, we still have so many almost “all White” neighborhoods and almost “all Black” neighborhoods thread throughout the country. As there are so many almost “all White” churches and “all Black” churches… Just look around, objectively. We’re still, on a lot of levels, tremendously segregated in the South — and in the North. For instance, significant numbers of Blacks are stuck [read: segregated] in inner city and rural poverty loops… So, how do we integrate more? One answer: More suburban Whites need to take the initiative to move back into the cities and live side by side with Blacks. In Lima, Ohio, we learned about a church that’s members were moving into the heart of a poorer area of the city to be more involved there. In Cleveland, Ohio, an enclave of White “Catholic Workers” have moved to W. 38th Street, near the heart of the city, to become “neighbors” with Blacks, Hispanics, Whites…(in a physical and spiritual sense). Note: Most of us look back on “official” racial segregation with disgust, even repugnancy. Yet if we look into our often homogenous neighborhoods, or for that matter our oten relatively homogenous lives (no real Black friends, an all White church…), many of us haven’t come all that far in really realizing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “dream.” Or maybe even God’s, huh. Koinonia Farm here is an “Intentional Christian Community” with a good mix of Blacks and Whites. Intentional being the operative word. That is, they have continually “worked” at community, “worked” at integration. And for more integration, more racial equality, to happen in American society, we (both White and Black) have to “work” at it in our own lives. Maybe celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. Day could include, not only the parade, but “intentionally” inviting someone of another race out to lunch — as the beginning to developing a new friendship. Or better yet, after the parade you could: move into another neighborhood. Note 2: Yesterday, the Americus Times Record reported that in Sumter County here, which is split about 50/50 when it comes to Black and White population, 74% of the students in the public school system are Black, and 22% are White. This means a significant number of White students are either in private school, or are going out of Sumter County to primarily Schley County’s public school system (at $1,250 a year). Incidentally, if you haven’t guessed, Schley county is decidedly more White, as are the private schools.
1/14/06
More from the last week at Koinonia Farm in Americus, Georgia: Koinonia community member Ann Karp reported on a trip she took to the “Open Door” in Atlanta. This is a home for the homeless run by, for the most part, former homeless people. Ms. Karp said she was most moved by a “foot washing” night meant to emulate when Jesus washed the feet of his disciples. Because it was the year 2006, however, this foot washing included pumice, nail clippers, an electric device to break down callouses (“Homeless people are on their feet a lot,” said Ms. Karp), an electric vibrating foot massager… Later in the night it turned cold and started to rain. Some of the people whose feet were done this evening, were now sleeping under a makeshift, cardboard awning in the back of the “Open Door” because there was no more room inside. Ms. Karp said the scene really impacted her. [A spiritual irony: We house cars in this country, while people sleep on city streets.]… I gave a talk to a youth group at St. Mary’s Church, several miles from Koinonia. I talked about the tremendous disparity in lifestyles between most of us in America and most of those in the Third World. One girl said her parents bought her a $200 coat for Christmas. I said that amount would feed a relatively large family in most Third World villages — for a year. She then said she felt “embarassed.” I said: “good.” What’s more, I suggested she explain to her parents, in detail, what we’d talked about this evening as well. Including the fact that some 24,000 people starve to death (U.N. figure) every day in the Third World. Note: With the world the way it is these days, this is no time for soft placating messages.
1/10/06 to 1/13/06
Recap: We have spent the week at the Koinonia Community in Southwest Georgia. It is a group of Christians living in intentional community on a pecan farm here. They are trying to model how the early Christians were inspired to live… For us, it has been a whirlwind of experiences and stimulating thought. Koinonia community member Tom Monaham showed me the tape of a lecture by author Noam Chomsky, who writes extensively on American foreign policy. In a lecture at Stanford University, Chomsky said America often blocks the “democratization” of other countries who have dictators (no matter how ruthless), if that dictator is friendly to American interersts — especially in respect to access to oil reserves… I then gave a talk to Koinonia members and some people who were here from Manchester College’s (in Indiana) Peace Studies Program. At one point in the talk, I said many in this country complain about President Bush’s decision not to sign the Kyoto Protocol to help curb greenhouse gasses in this country. But I wondered how many of those complaining had made personal lifestyle choices to, in effect, create “Kyoto Protocol Home Zones.” That is, how many of these same people are cutting back significantly on their driving, air conditioning, heating, length of showers? (All these contribute to the burning of fossil fuels — a lot of that being oil — that cause global warming.) And for that matter, how many people have considered house sharing in order to share items (often made by buring fossil fuels), share heated air, and the like? The point: By the average person in the U.S. continuing on in our gluttonous energy ways in the U.S., not only are we contributing tremendously to environmental degradation; but we are also contributing tremendously to the continuation of human rights violations in the countries with the cruel dictators who are friendly to U.S. oil (and other natural resource) interests. Note: Many a theologian would say foreign human rights violations caused, ultimately, by our gluttonous lifestyles here would simply be considered: “unintended consequences.” And they would assign little, if any, spiritual culpability. Yet if someone has ‘connected the international dots’ for us, and we’ve learned that these are, in fact, some of the consequences…
1/9/06
Several days ago we had stopped in Rome, Georgia where we met with Tom Farmer. Farmer has studied the writings of G.K. Chesterton at length and informed us about the American Chesterton Society. One of the things Chesterton championed was “distributism,” a third way of economic order (besides socialism and capitalism). It is a concept that comes out of Catholic Church teaching about social justice and emphasizes that: “the ownership of the means of production should be spread as widely as possible among the populace.” Simply put, as many people as possible should be able to own businesses (either individually, or in a “co-op” way) so there is a good measure of economic and social parity. The opposite of this, in one sense, would be the current trend in American society toward corporate mergers, big box retailers like Wal-Marts, etc. This idea was adopted by the Catholic Worker movement in respect to their decentralized vision of many more localized and indpendent communities that were highly interdependent. Note: Our Economic Philosophy very much reflects the concept of distributism. See “what joe stands for,” then click on: Economy. Also, there is a Chesterton Society group at St. Mary’s Church in Rome, Georgia, as there are throughout the country. For more on the society, see: www.chesterton.org — The American Chesterton Society (Common Sense for the World’s Uncommon Nonsense).
1/8/08
We have come to the Koinonia Community on the outskirts of Americus, Georgia. Established in 1942, this is a group of Christians living together in community around a pecan farm. Former President Jimmy Carter, who lives 10 miles away in Plains, Georgia, called Koinonia: “…a beacon for Civil Rights for those who believed in racial equality.” Koinonia was started by the late Reverend Clarence Jordan, his wife and another couple. Soon, they were doing the unheard of in the south. Blacks and Whites were living and working together in community on the farm. Andrew Young, the former mayor of Atlanta (and first major city Black mayor), called Koinonia the “backwater” Montgomery (Alabama) of the Civil Rights Movement. Koinonia quickly became a lightening rod for protests, boycotts and violence (scores of drive by shootings, as an example), as many rallied, including the KKK, to shut Koinonia down. Yet through it all, Jordan remained firm in his beliefs and would not back down. And eventually, the climate changed. Note: Clarence Jordan has been described as being on “the cutting edge of the prophetic.” And in his life, Jordan also wrote a series of books (Cotton Patch Gospel, The Substance of Faith & Other Cotton Patch Sermons, etc…) that were modern-day, common sense translations of the Bible. Books that have been read by many across the country.
1/7/06
Traveled to Americus, Georgia where we toured Habitat for Humanity’s “Global Village” and interviewed site manager Linda Mills. Habitat volunteers from all over the country have come and built a mock, Third World slum here. Cracker box, one-room dwellings are slapped together with rusty, corrigated tin, old boards and other things gleaned from dumps and the side of the road. (Just like it is gleaned in the Third World.) At the time of the tour, it was 15 degrees with the wind chill. And the wind whipped through open wooden slats and open windows (because there is no glass). It swirled around bunk beds made of rough tree limbs and small boards, no matresses and dirty blankets. The only thing that is missing, said Ms. Mills, is the sound of “crying and dying babies.” (“Children living in poverty [like this] are five times more likely to die by age 5,” a sign here reads. And there are “1.2 billion” people in the world living in “absolute poverty” like this.)… Coming out of the slums, you are greeted with a stark contrast. Nice, colorful (yet modest by American standards) homes line the next part of the path. Habitat volunteers have built a series of homes that replicate the Habitat Homes going up in other countries. There is a stucco design for Mexico, a two story, wooden frame Sri-Lankan home, a one-story brick home like ones going up in Tanzania… Ms. Mills said Habitat “Volunteer Vacation (Building) Trips” go to more than 50 countries now to work with local people to help them get out of the slums — one house at a time. Habitat has built 2 million homes housing 10 million people, so far. (Homes that can often be put up for less than $2,000 in the Third World, said Ms. Mills.) Habitat’s goal: Adequate housing for everyone — in the world. Note: I couldn’t help but think how many of us in America will spend $2,000 on frivolous things — the car with additional options, the leather couches, air conditioning for a year, a $2,000 casket… — when that money could house a whole family in Uganda and maybe mean the difference between a little child in that family dying or not. How spiritually nuts have we become?
1/6/06
Coming out of Rome, Georgia, we stopped in nearby Lindale where I sat in on a Church of God “Road to Recovery” group to do some research. The facilitator, Tod Stansell, said this group was for people who had an addiction or emotional problem of any kind. Based on the 12 Steps (“…and their Biblical comparison”), Stansell said issues in the group run the gamut from drugs, to alcoholism, to pornography, compulsive overeating, depression, high anxiety… As a former counselor, I’ve seen — time and again — how these issues can lead to tremendously dysfunctional families, and a constellation of attendant social problems. As an example: A child grows up with a father who is alcoholic and emotionally absent, and/or physically abusive. As a result, the child grows up angry and externalizes it in the form of his own domestic violence later, and/or violence on the street.
1/5/06
I interviewed Rome, Georgia’s Joe Gesing today. He is involved with the “One Church – One Inmate Program” at St. Mary’s Church here. The church “team” for this program sends letters to the inmate, visits the inmate in prison, helps them find a place and a job when they get out… as well as a myriad of other things. Our position paper on crime suggests we lean toward much more “restorative justice” with prisoners in America. That is, social justice would dictate that we do everything possible to help the prisoner rehabilitate and get a solid footing in society once he or she gets out. Note: When we are compelled spiritually to “visit those in prison,” is that just about physically visiting them, or are we to “visit” with as many creative approaches as possible to help them really turn their lives around?
1/1/ o6 to 1/4/06
New Years day I talked with Kingsport, Tennessee’s John Andrivilli about an idea we propose about taxes. That is, we believe each citizen should be able to designate where at least 25% of their tax money should go (to environmental programs, or social programs, or the military…). Andrivilli then proposed that one contingency in being able to do this is that the person has to demonstrate they voted in the last election for their area. This, he believed, would increase voter turn out, which of late in the U.S., is often not more than 50% in a given precinct… In Dayton, Tennessee the next day, I sat in on a talk by an Army Lieutenant who was recently back from Afghanistan. He said in the first democratic election for president of that country, some 80% of the voters — amidst threats of violence, and so on — came out to vote. The lieutenant said one man who was paralyzed, was carried by his two sons in a mile long line to vote. Also, the lieutenant (who asked his name not be used) said some Provincional Reconstruction Teams in Afghanistan would go up into the rural villages with doctors. “For some people, this will be the only time they see a doctor (in their lifetime),” said the lieutenant… In Dalton, Georgia on our next stop, I told The Daily Citizen reporter Charles Robert that we wanted to see equal access to quality health care for all in this country. (And we want the same for all in the Third World.)… Then in Rome, Georgia, we met with Tom and Shana Farmer, both doctors out of Duke University’s Medical School. In somewhat of a ‘think tank’ session with the Farmers, an idea emerged that we’ve decided to plug into our position paper on Health Care. That is under a new Health Care Plan, the Federal Government would uniformally pay for the cost of: X-Ray machines, vaccines, lab equipment, etc. in each region of the country– so there would be parity between the poorer and richer states. Likewise, a regional tax would subsidize some of the costs for doctors, nurses and other medical personnel. And in addition, we propose more quality, volunteer-staffed Free Clinics, “Community Pharmacies,” and so on, to help those without health insurance in an area. Why we don’t propose a National Health Care System across the board, like in Canada, is because this system would take away a lot of the incentive and opportunity for people to volunteer. And in this volunteer scenario, not only do the poor get help, but conversely, those volunteering benefit as much, if not more — spiritually. Note: Tom Farmer has been an ardent supporter of our campaign. He said when people ask him about us, he smiles and replies: “It’s the kind of campaign where I had to have the (“Joe Schriner for President 2008″) bumper stickers made up myself.” (Yes, we continue to be unfettered by big money.)